EC observers on three-day visit to state from today

Amit Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, March 13

The special observers appointed by the Election Commission (EC) will start their three-day visit to J&K from Thursday. They will assess the ground situation while exploring the possibility of holding the Assembly elections in the state.

The EC has come under sharp criticism of all political parties, barring the BJP, for deferring the Assembly polls in J&K. It, however, cited security reasons while deciding not to hold joint Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the state. The EC had already announced the schedule for the parliamentary polls for the state.

Noor Mohammad, Vinod Zutshi and AS Gill, who were appointed as the special observers by the EC to assess the ground situation in  J&K, will start their first visit to the state on Thursday. According to sources, the observers will reach Srinagar on Thursday for a daylong visit and then fly to Jammu on Friday and remain there for the next two days.

“They will hold a series of meetings with the representatives of all political parties and take feedback from security agencies in the state,” a source told The Tribune.

After getting the feedback from all stakeholders in both the capital cities of the state, the team will submit their report to the EC, which will take a call on holding the Assembly elections in the state.

Pertinently, the National Conference, the PDP and the Congress have been continuously opposing the decision of not holding the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections simultaneously in J&K.

On Tuesday, three special observers had also met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra at the EC Headquarters in New Delhi. They were requested by the Chief Election Commissioner to visit the state at the earliest.

Trip schedule

• Special observers Noor Mohammad, Vinod Zutshi and AS Gill will start their first visit to the state on Thursday
• They will reach Srinagar on Thursday for a daylong visit and then fly to Jammu on Friday and remain there for the next two days